Bowling Green, Ky. - Former Football Hilltopper Michael Lynch of Hilton Head, S.C., and his wife, Louise, recently made a $100,000 commitment to Hilltopper Football to honor Michael Lynch’s high school football and basketball coach.              

The gift will create the “Michael Lynch / Howard ‘Tip’ Downing Endowed Football Scholarship.”                

“Tip Downing was my football and basketballcoach in high school,a member of Western’s hall of fame and the reason I came to WKU,” Michael Lynch said.  “I am pleased to have the opportunity to honor his legacy through this gift.  I have also come to know WKU President Gary Ransdell during the past several years, and I admire his leadership for the University and for WKU athletics.”              

Hilltopper Football Head Coach David Elson said: “The Hilltopper Football family will be forever grateful to Mike and Louise for this generous investment in our future.  This type of commitment to our program is why we have such a great tradition and even more exciting future.”              

“We are always grateful for scholarship support, but when the gift comes from an alumnus and former player, it is even more meaningful,” said Tom Hiles, WKU’s vice president for Institutional Advancement.  “We greatly appreciate Mike and Louise making a commitment that will support a student-athlete for generations to come.”              

Hiles said this gift will provide the 13th endowed scholarship for the football program.  In addition, a total of $2.4 million has been raised over the past several years to provide programmatic support for the program.  “University officials believe this substantial private support has been instrumental to the recent success of Hilltopper Football and to achieving the National Championship in 2002,” he said.- WKU - a leading American university with international reach -

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